DAENERYS
36 丹妮莉絲
The Horse Gate of Vaes Dothrak was made of two gigantic bronze stallions, rearing, their hooves meeting a hundred feet above the roadway to form a pointed arch.
維斯·多斯拉克的“馬門”乃是兩匹巨大的青銅駿馬，后足站立，前腳高躍，四蹄相會于離路面百余尺的高空，形成一個尖頂圓弧。
Dany could not have said why the city needed a gate when it had no walls?.?.?.?and no buildings that she could see. Yet there it stood, immense and beautiful, the great horses framing the distant purple mountain beyond. The bronze stallions threw long shadows across the waving grasses as Khal Drogo led the khalasar under their hooves and down the godsway, his bloodriders beside him.
丹妮實在不了解，這座城既無圍墻，何需城門？……猶有甚者，她舉目所及居然沒有半棟建筑。然而馬門依舊矗立在此，碩大無比，美麗逼人，兩匹大馬為遠方紫色山巒的風景加上了邊框。卓戈卡奧領(lǐng)著卡拉薩從它們的馬蹄下經(jīng)過，沿著諸神大道繼續(xù)前行，血盟衛(wèi)們緊隨左右，青銅駿馬則在碧波蕩漾的草原上灑下迆長的影子。
Dany followed on her silver, escorted by Ser Jorah Mormont and her brother Viserys, mounted once more. After the day in the grass when she had left him to walk back to the khalasar, the Dothraki had laughingly called him Khal Rhae Mhar, the Sorefoot King. Khal Drogo had offered him a place in a cart the next day, and Viserys had accepted. In his stubborn ignorance, he had not even known he was being mocked; the carts were for eunuchs, cripples, women giving birth, the very young and the very old. That won him yet another name: Khal Rhaggat, the Cart King. Her brother had thought it was the khal’s way of apologizing for the wrong Dany had done him. She had begged Ser Jorah not to tell him the truth, lest he be shamed. The knight had replied that the king could well do with a bit of shame?.?.?.?yet he had done as she bid. It had taken much pleading, and all the pillow tricks Doreah had taught her, before Dany had been able to make Drogo relent and allow Viserys to rejoin them at the head of the column.
丹妮騎著銀馬跟隨在后，護送她的是喬拉·莫爾蒙爵士和再度上馬的哥哥韋賽里斯。自那天在草原上發(fā)生事故，她讓他走路回卡拉薩后，多斯拉克人便語帶譏諷地給他起了個綽號叫雷馬爾卡奧，意思是“酸腿國王”。次日卓戈卡奧提議讓他搭乘馬車，韋賽里斯答應下來。倔強又無知的他，卻不知這正是對他嘲弄。因為只有太監(jiān)、殘廢、孕婦和老弱幼孺才搭馬車。為此他又得了個新譯名拉迦特卡奧，意思是“馬車國王”。哥哥竟還以為卡奧是因為丹妮犯了錯，想藉此向他賠禮。她特別懇求喬拉爵士別告訴他真相，以免他受辱。騎士回說作國王就是要能忍受些許侮辱……但他還是聽了她的話。如今丹妮可是再三哀求，又用盡多莉亞教的床上功夫，才讓卓戈收回成命，允許韋賽里斯重新和他們一起走在隊伍前端。
“Where is the city?” she asked as they passed beneath the bronze arch. There were no buildings to be seen, no people, only the grass and the road, lined with ancient monuments from all the lands the Dothraki had sacked over the centuries.
“城區(qū)究竟在哪兒？”他們從青銅拱門下穿過時，她忍不住問。放眼望去，四下沒有建筑物，沒有人煙，只有草原和道路，兩旁擺滿了千百年來多斯拉克人由各地搜刮來的古老掠獲。
“Ahead,” Ser Jorah answered. “Under the mountain.”
“前面，”喬拉爵士回答，“就在山腳下。”
Beyond the horse gate, plundered gods and stolen heroes loomed to either side of them. The forgotten deities of dead cities brandished their broken thunderbolts at the sky as Dany rode her silver past their feet. Stone kings looked down on her from their thrones, their faces chipped and stained, even their names lost in the mists of time. Lithe young maidens danced on marble plinths, draped only in flowers, or poured air from shattered jars. Monsters stood in the grass beside the road; black iron dragons with jewels for eyes, roaring griffins, manticores with their barbed tails poised to strike, and other beasts she could not name. Some of the statues were so lovely they took her breath away, others so misshapen and terrible that Dany could scarcely bear to look at them. Those, Ser Jorah said, had likely come from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai.
過了馬門，搶竊而來的各方諸神和列位英雄凜然站立道路左右。丹妮騎著小銀馬經(jīng)過曾被衰亡城市敬拜過的、如今早被遺忘的神祉，有的還朝天揮舞手中的閃電。眾多國王的石雕坐在王位上，冷冷地俯視她，他們的面容卻已被風雨侵蝕，連名字也失落于時間的迷霧中。身軀苗條的少女在大理石基座上跳舞，身上僅有花朵蔽體，她們拿著碎裂的瓶罐，倒出的也只有空氣。站在道路兩邊的青草地上的還有各種怪物：眼鑲珠寶的黑鐵龍，猙獰咆哮的鷹頭獅身獸，舉尾欲刺的人面獅身蝎尾獸，以及其他不知名的怪獸。有些雕像可愛得教她透不過氣，卻也有些極度畸形可怖，令她不敢再看。照喬拉爵士說，這些雕像大半來自亞夏彼方的陰影之地。
“So many,” she said as her silver stepped slowly onward, “and from so many lands.”
“好多啊，”小銀馬一邊緩步向前，她一邊說，“也是從好多地方來的。”
Viserys was less impressed. “The trash of dead cities,” he sneered. He was careful to speak in the Common Tongue, which few Dothraki could understand, yet even so Dany found herself glancing back at the men of her khas, to make certain he had not been overheard. He went on blithely. “All these savages know how to do is steal the things better men have built?.?.?.?and kill.” He laughed. “They do know how to kill. Otherwise I’d have no use for them at all.”
韋賽里斯可不怎么感興趣?！叭切绲某鞘辛粝聛淼睦?。”他冷笑道。他這句話是特別用通用語說的，因為沒幾個多斯拉克人聽得懂，然而丹妮還是忍不住回頭看看自己卡斯的人，以確定沒人聽見。他倒是滿不在乎地繼續(xù)說下去。“這些野蠻人只懂得竊取文明人現(xiàn)成的建筑……還有殺人。”他笑道，“但他們也真是會殺人，否則我找他們干嘛？”
“They are my people now,” Dany said. “You should not call them savages, brother.”
“他們現(xiàn)在也是我的族人，”丹妮說，“哥哥，你就別再叫他們野蠻人了吧。”
“The dragon speaks as he likes,” Viserys said?.?.?.?in the Common Tongue. He glanced over his shoulder at Aggo and Rakharo, riding behind them, and favored them with a mocking smile. “See, the savages lack the wit to understand the speech of civilized men.” A moss-eaten stone monolith loomed over the road, fifty feet tall. Viserys gazed at it with boredom in his eyes. “How long must we linger amidst these ruins before Drogo gives me my army? I grow tired of waiting.”
“真龍傳人愛說什么就說什么?！表f賽里斯道……依然是用通用語。他回頭瞄了一眼騎在后面的阿戈和拉卡洛，給了他們一個嘲弄的微笑。“你瞧，這些野蠻人沒腦袋，聽不懂文明人的話。”路邊矗立著一座爬滿青苔的巨石柱，足足有五十英尺高。韋賽里斯百無聊賴地看著石柱，“我們到底還要在這些廢墟里待多久，卓戈才會給我軍隊？我等得不耐煩了?！?/p>
“The princess must be presented to the dosh khaleen?.?.?.?”
“公主殿下必須先晉見多希卡林……”
“The crones, yes,” her brother interrupted, “and there’s to be some mummer’s show of a prophecy for the whelp in her belly, you told me. What is that to me? I’m tired of eating horsemeat and I’m sick of the stink of these savages.” He sniffed at the wide, floppy sleeve of his tunic, where it was his custom to keep a sachet. It could not have helped much. The tunic was filthy. All the silk and heavy wools that Viserys had worn out of Pentos were stained by hard travel and rotted from sweat.
“見幾個老太婆，我知道?！备绺绮逶?，“照你所說，之后還要演場鬧劇，預言她肚里的小東西。這與我何干？我受夠了天天吃馬肉，還有這些野蠻人的臭味。”他朝自己寬大的衣袖聞了聞，他習慣在袖子里縫個香袋，但作用非常有限，因為外衣本身就又臟又臭。韋賽里斯當初從潘托斯穿出來的絲綢羊毛，早已在長途跋涉中沾滿泥漬，并因汗水而腐爛了。
Ser Jorah Mormont said, “The Western Market will have food more to your taste, Your Grace. The traders from the Free Cities come there to sell their wares. The khal will honor his promise in his own time.”
喬拉·莫爾蒙爵士道：“陛下，城西市集里的東西應該合您胃口。自由貿(mào)易城邦的生意人在那里做買賣，甚至會有七國的商販來此。至于卡奧，相信他會挑適當?shù)臅r機履行承諾。”
“He had better,” Viserys said grimly. “I was promised a crown, and I mean to have it. The dragon is not mocked.” Spying an obscene likeness of a woman with six breasts and a ferret’s head, he rode off to inspect it more closely.
“他最好動作快點。”韋賽里斯冷冷地說，“他答應給我一頂王冠，我可是打定主意非拿到手不可，誰也別想拿真龍尋開心?！边@時他瞥見一尊形似女人，有著六個乳房和一個貂頭的猥褻雕像，便騎馬過去看個仔細。
Dany was relieved, yet no less anxious. “I pray that my sun-and-stars will not keep him waiting too long,” she told Ser Jorah when her brother was out of earshot.
丹妮松了口氣，卻依舊不安。“我衷心期望我的日和星不會讓他久等?！备绺珉x開聽力范圍后，她這么告訴喬拉爵士。
The knight looked after Viserys doubtfully. “Your brother should have bided his time in Pentos. There is no place for him in a khalasar. Illyrio tried to warn him.”
騎士懷疑地望著韋賽里斯的背影?！澳绺鐟摿粼谂送兴沟却龝r機?？ɡ_里不適合他待，伊利里歐也告誡過他?！?/p>
“He will go as soon as he has his ten thousand. My lord husband promised a golden crown.”
“一旦得到那一萬精兵，他就會離開。我夫君承諾要給他一頂黃金王冠?！?/p>
Ser Jorah grunted. “Yes, Khaleesi, but?.?.?.?the Dothraki look on these things differently than we do in the west. I have told him as much, as Illyrio told him, but your brother does not listen. The horselords are no traders. Viserys thinks he sold you, and now he wants his price. Yet Khal Drogo would say he had you as a gift. He will give Viserys a gift in return, yes?.?.?.?in his own time. You do not demand a gift, not of a khal. You do not demand anything of a khal.”
喬拉爵士咕噥道：“卡麗熙，我知道，可是……多斯拉克人的行事作風與我們西方人不同。我跟他說過幾次，伊利里歐也談過，但您哥哥不聽。馬王并非生意人，韋賽里斯認為他把您賣了，現(xiàn)在想要收賬，然而卓戈卡奧將您視為他的禮物，他會以禮回贈韋賽里斯……只不過什么時候送取決于他。您不能主動開口問他要禮物，對卡奧不能這樣。開口跟卡奧要任何東西都是行不通的?！?/p>
“It is not right to make him wait.” Dany did not know why she was defending her brother, yet she was. “Viserys says he could sweep the Seven Kingdoms with ten thousand Dothraki screamers.”
“可叫他這樣干等卻也不對?！钡つ莶恢约簽楹我獮楦绺甾q護，總之她開了口?！绊f賽里斯說有了一萬名多斯拉克哮吼武士，他可以橫掃七國全境。”
Ser Jorah snorted. “Viserys could not sweep a stable with ten thousand brooms.”
喬拉爵士哼了一聲?！敖o韋賽里斯一萬把掃把，他也沒法把一座馬廄打掃干凈。”
Dany could not pretend to surprise at the disdain in his tone. “What?.?.?.?what if it were not Viserys?” she asked. “If it were someone else who led them? Someone stronger? Could the Dothraki truly conquer the Seven Kingdoms?”
對他的輕蔑口吻，丹妮實在是不能佯作吃驚?！澳恰侨绻皇琼f賽里斯呢？”她問，“如果換個人？換個更強的人領(lǐng)軍呢？多斯拉克人果真能征服七國嗎？”
Ser Jorah’s face grew thoughtful as their horses trod together down the godsway. “When I first went into exile, I looked at the Dothraki and saw half-naked barbarians, as wild as their horses. If you had asked me then, Princess, I should have told you that a thousand good knights would have no trouble putting to flight a hundred times as many Dothraki.”
他們繼續(xù)沿著諸神大道走下去，喬拉爵士則陷入沉思。“當初剛遭放逐，我也是把多斯拉克人視為衣不蔽體、跟他們的馬同樣野性難馴的化外蠻子。公主殿下，若那時候您問起我這個問題，我會毫不猶豫地告訴您只需一千名訓練有素的騎士，便足以使上百倍的多斯拉克人抱頭鼠竄。”
“But if I asked you now?”
“現(xiàn)在呢？”
“Now,” the knight said, “I am less certain. They are better riders than any knight, utterly fearless, and their bows outrange ours. In the Seven Kingdoms, most archers fight on foot, from behind a shieldwall or a barricade of sharpened stakes. The Dothraki fire from horseback, charging or retreating, it makes no matter, they are full as deadly?.?.?.?and there are so many of them, my lady. Your lord husband alone counts forty thousand mounted warriors in his khalasar.”
“現(xiàn)在的話，”騎士道，“我就不敢確定。他們的馬術(shù)勝過任何騎士，天不怕地不怕，弓箭的射程也遠超過我們。七國的弓箭手多半徒步，躲在盾牌圍成的墻壁或是削尖的木樁做成的工事后面。多斯拉克人卻是騎馬射箭，無論沖鋒撤退都行動自如。公主殿下，他們非常危險……而他們的數(shù)量也同樣驚人。您夫君大人的卡拉薩足足擁有四萬騎馬戰(zhàn)士?！?/p>
“Is that truly so many?”
“四萬人真的很多？”
“Your brother Rhaegar brought as many men to the Trident,” Ser Jorah admitted, “but of that number, no more than a tenth were knights. The rest were archers, freeriders, and foot soldiers armed with spears and pikes. When Rhaegar fell, many threw down their weapons and fled the field. How long do you imagine such a rabble would stand against the charge of forty thousand screamers howling for blood? How well would boiled leather jerkins and mailed shirts protect them when the arrows fall like rain?”
“當年您哥哥雷加，便是帶著這么多人到三叉戟河作戰(zhàn)，”喬拉爵士說，“但其中只有不到十分之一是騎士，其余都是流浪騎手、弓箭手，以及拿槍矛的步兵。雷加一死，很多人便丟下武器，逃離戰(zhàn)場。面對四萬名嗜血哮吼武士的決死沖鋒，你覺得這樣的烏合之眾能支撐多久？置身箭如雨下的殺戮戰(zhàn)場，身穿硬皮革和鎖子甲，又能有多大效用？”
“Not long,” she said, “not well.”
“撐不久，”她說，“也沒什么用?！?/p>
He nodded. “Mind you, Princess, if the lords of the Seven Kingdoms have the wit the gods gave a goose, it will never come to that. The riders have no taste for siegecraft. I doubt they could take even the weakest castle in the Seven Kingdoms, but if Robert Baratheon were fool enough to give them battle?.?.?.?”
他點點頭?！翱墒枪鞯钕?，容我提醒您，只要諸神賜予七國的領(lǐng)主一點點腦子，他們就不至于淪落到那種地步。草原的騎馬戰(zhàn)士對圍城完全不在行，能不能攻下七國里最弱的城堡，我都很懷疑。但若是勞勃·拜拉席恩愚蠢到跟他們正面決戰(zhàn)……”
“Is he?” Dany asked. “A fool, I mean?”
“他是這樣的人嗎？”丹妮問：“我的意思是，他愚蠢嗎？”
Ser Jorah considered that for a moment. “Robert should have been born Dothraki,” he said at last. “Your khal would tell you that only a coward hides behind stone walls instead of facing his enemy with a blade in hand. The Usurper would agree. He is a strong man, brave?.?.?.?and rash enough to meet a Dothraki horde in the open field. But the men around him, well, their pipers play a different tune. His brother Stannis, Lord Tywin Lannister, Eddard Stark?.?.?.?” He spat.
喬拉爵士沉吟片刻?！皠诓獞撋鸀槎嗨估巳瞬艑Α！弊詈笏_口說，“您的卡奧會告訴您，只有懦夫才會躲在城墻后，不敢與敵人當面對決，對這種說法，‘篡奪者’絕對會拍手贊成。他這個人驍勇善戰(zhàn)……照他的個性，的確會沖動地在開闊地和多斯拉克大軍決一死戰(zhàn)。但他身邊有很多人，哈，這些人就像伴奏的笛手，而他們決不會如此行事，比如他弟弟史坦尼斯·泰溫蘭尼斯特公爵，艾德·史塔克……”他啐了口唾沫。
“You hate this Lord Stark,” Dany said.
“你好像很討厭這個史塔克公爵?！钡つ莸馈?/p>
“He took from me all I loved, for the sake of a few lice-ridden poachers and his precious honor,” Ser Jorah said bitterly. From his tone, she could tell the loss still pained him. He changed the subject quickly. “There,” he announced, pointing. “Vaes Dothrak. The city of the horselords.”
“他奪走了我深愛的一切，只為了區(qū)區(qū)幾個偷獵人渣和他寶貴的榮譽。”喬拉爵士苦澀地說。從他的口氣，丹妮聽得出回憶依舊折磨著他。但他隨即轉(zhuǎn)變話題。“您看，”他指給她瞧，“這就是維斯多斯拉克，馬王之城?！?/p>
Khal Drogo and his bloodriders led them through the great bazaar of the Western Market, down the broad ways beyond. Dany followed close on her silver, staring at the strangeness about her. Vaes Dothrak was at once the largest city and the smallest that she had ever known. She thought it must be ten times as large as Pentos, a vastness without walls or limits, its broad windswept streets paved in grass and mud and carpeted with wildflowers. In the Free Cities of the west, towers and manses and hovels and bridges and shops and halls all crowded in on one another, but Vaes Dothrak sprawled languorously, baking in the warm sun, ancient, arrogant, and empty.
卓戈卡奧和他的血盟衛(wèi)領(lǐng)著大隊人馬穿過絡繹熙攘的城西市集，沿著寬闊的大道行進。丹妮騎著銀馬，緊隨在旁，睜大眼睛看著周遭的奇異風光。維斯多斯拉克既是她生平所見最大的城市，卻也稱得上最小的一座。依她判斷，這座城占地面積大概有十個潘托斯那么大，既無城墻亦無邊際，飽經(jīng)風沙吹拂的寬廣街道上鋪著青草和泥土，野花則如地毯般覆蓋其上。在西方的自由貿(mào)易城邦，塔樓、豪宅、房舍、橋梁、店鋪和廳堂統(tǒng)統(tǒng)擁擠一塊，而維斯多斯拉克卻是慵懶地延展四方，沐浴在暖陽下，顯得古老、傲慢而空虛。
Even the buildings were so queer to her eyes. She saw carved stone pavilions, manses of woven grass as large as castles, rickety wooden towers, stepped pyramids faced with marble, log halls open to the sky. In place of walls, some palaces were surrounded by thorny hedges. “None of them are alike,” she said.
就連各種建筑，在她眼里也顯得古怪。她看到雕滿花紋的石頭營帳，如城堡般大的草織宅邸，搖搖欲墜的木造樓塔，大理石砌的階狀金字塔，以及屋頂開敞、直面天際的木材殿堂。有些宮殿更以荊棘籬笆來取代圍墻。“它們長得通通都不一樣。”她說。
“Your brother had part of the truth,” Ser Jorah admitted. “The Dothraki do not build. A thousand years ago, to make a house, they would dig a hole in the earth and cover it with a woven grass roof. The buildings you see were made by slaves brought here from lands they’ve plundered, and they built each after the fashion of their own peoples.”
“您哥哥說得倒也沒錯，”喬拉爵士坦承，“多斯拉克人的確不事建筑。一千年前，他們所謂的蓋房子，便是在地上挖個大坑，然后鋪上草織屋頂。您在這里看到的建筑，都是他們從別處擄來的奴隸蓋的。不用說，那些奴隸自然是依照各地的風土民情去修筑了?！?/p>
Most of the halls, even the largest, seemed deserted. “Where are the people who live here?” Dany asked. The bazaar had been full of running children and men shouting, but elsewhere she had seen only a few eunuchs going about their business.
廳堂看起來大都荒廢已久，即便最大的那幾間也不例外?！白≡谶@里的人都到哪兒去了？”丹妮問。市集里到處都是跑來跑去的小孩和高聲吆喝的成年人，但在這里，她只看到幾個辦事的太監(jiān)。
“Only the crones of the dosh khaleen dwell permanently in the sacred city, them and their slaves and servants,” Ser Jorah replied, “yet Vaes Dothrak is large enough to house every man of every khalasar, should all the khals return to the Mother at once. The crones have prophesied that one day that will come to pass, and so Vaes Dothrak must be ready to embrace all its children.”
“定居在圣城的，只有多希卡林的老婦，以及侍候她們的奴隸和仆人?！眴汤羰炕卮穑叭欢S斯·多斯拉克占地廣大，就算所有的卡奧都帶著他們的卡拉薩回歸圣母山，這里也容納得下。女祭司曾經(jīng)預言這樣的一天終將來臨，所以維斯·多斯拉克必須做好迎接所有孩子的準備。”
Khal Drogo finally called a halt near the Eastern Market where the caravans from Yi Ti and Asshai and the Shadow Lands came to trade, with the Mother of Mountains looming overhead. Dany smiled as she recalled Magister Illyrio’s slave girl and her talk of a palace with two hundred rooms and doors of solid silver. The “palace” was a cavernous wooden feasting hall, its rough-hewn timbered walls rising forty feet, its roof sewn silk, a vast billowing tent that could be raised to keep out the rare rains, or lowered to admit the endless sky. Around the hall were broad grassy horse yards fenced with high hedges, firepits, and hundreds of round earthen houses that bulged from the ground like miniature hills, covered with grass.
隊伍接近城東市集時，卓戈卡奧總算下令停步。從夷地、亞夏、陰影之地及玉海沿岸來的商隊，都在這里做買賣，巍峨的圣母山高聳于頭頂。丹妮憶起伊利里歐總督的女奴曾說，卓戈的宮殿有兩百個房間和銀子打造的門扉，不禁莞爾一笑。這座“宮殿”乃是個深邃的木造飯廳，粗木建成的墻壁高達四十英尺，屋頂是一塊絲織大帷幕，掛起可擋霎時風雨，收下能迎無盡長空。廳堂周圍，高籬環(huán)繞，還有青草茂盛的寬闊馬場，火堆，以及數(shù)以百計的圓頂土屋，它們自地面突起，雜草覆蓋其上，遠看仿如小丘。
A small army of slaves had gone ahead to prepare for Khal Drogo’s arrival. As each rider swung down from his saddle, he unbelted his arakh and handed it to a waiting slave, and any other weapons he carried as well. Even Khal Drogo himself was not exempt. Ser Jorah had explained that it was forbidden to carry a blade in Vaes Dothrak, or to shed a free man’s blood. Even warring khalasars put aside their feuds and shared meat and mead together when they were in sight of the Mother of Mountains. In this place, the crones of the dosh khaleen had decreed, all Dothraki were one blood, one khalasar, one herd.
為了迎接卓戈卡奧，大隊奴隸已在前等候。每個人下馬后，便解開腰際的亞拉克彎刀，以及隨身攜帶的其他武器，交給旁邊的奴隸，連卓戈卡奧也不例外。喬拉爵士事前曾解釋道：在維斯·多斯拉克城里禁止攜帶武器，也不能傷害其他自由人。在圣母山的注視下，即便正在交戰(zhàn)的卡拉薩，也會暫時捐棄成見，共飲蜜酒作樂。根據(jù)多?？峙浪镜穆闪?，在這個地方，所有的多斯拉克人都是血脈同源，屬于同一個卡拉薩，同一個族群。
Cohollo came to Dany as Irri and Jhiqui were helping her down off her silver. He was the oldest of Drogo’s three bloodriders, a squat bald man with a crooked nose and a mouth full of broken teeth, shattered by a mace twenty years before when he saved the young khalakka from sellswords who hoped to sell him to his father’s enemies. His life had been bound to Drogo’s the day her lord husband was born.
伊麗和姬琪扶丹妮下馬時，科霍羅過來找她。他是個矮胖的禿子，生了個鷹鉤鼻，滿嘴碎牙。二十年前，有人意圖綁架卓戈，賣給他父親的敵人，科霍羅從傭兵手中救出了當時還年輕的卡拉喀①，牙齒卻因此被一個釘頭錘打得稀爛。卓戈三個血盟衛(wèi)中，數(shù)科霍羅最為年長。從她夫君誕生那天起，他的性命便與卓戈緊緊相連。
Every khal had his bloodriders. At first Dany had thought of them as a kind of Dothraki Kingsguard, sworn to protect their lord, but it went further than that. Jhiqui had taught her that a bloodrider was more than a guard; they were the khal’s brothers, his shadows, his fiercest friends. “Blood of my blood,” Drogo called them, and so it was; they shared a single life. The ancient traditions of the horselords demanded that when the khal died, his bloodriders died with him, to ride at his side in the night lands. If the khal died at the hands of some enemy, they lived only long enough to avenge him, and then followed him joyfully into the grave. In some khalasars, Jhiqui said, the bloodriders shared the khal’s wine, his tent, and even his wives, though never his horses. A man’s mount was his own.
每位卡奧都有自己的血盟衛(wèi)。丹妮從前以為他們就是多斯拉克人中的御林鐵衛(wèi)，誓死保衛(wèi)主人，但她隨后發(fā)現(xiàn)不只這樣。姬琪告訴她血盟衛(wèi)不只是侍衛(wèi)，他們更是卡奧的手足兄弟，他的影子，他最剽悍的朋友。卓戈與他們互以“吾血之血”相稱，事實也的確如此，他們共享同一生命。依照馬王的古老傳統(tǒng)，卡奧若死，血盟衛(wèi)亦需隨行，以陪伴他走過夜晚的國度。若卡奧死于敵人之手，則他們需先為其復仇，然后欣喜地自殺殉葬。姬琪說，在某些卡拉薩里，血盟衛(wèi)不僅同飲卡奧之酒，更居其營帳，甚至享其妻妾，惟有卡奧的馬絕對不碰，因為每個人的坐騎只能屬于個人。
Daenerys was glad that Khal Drogo did not hold to those ancient ways. She should not have liked being shared. And while old Cohollo treated her kindly enough, the others frightened her; Haggo, huge and silent, often glowered as if he had forgotten who she was, and Qotho had cruel eyes and quick hands that liked to hurt. He left bruises on Doreah’s soft white skin whenever he touched her, and sometimes made Irri sob in the night. Even his horses seemed to fear him.
丹妮莉絲很慶幸卓戈卡奧沒有遵循這些古老習俗，她可不想被多人共享。老科霍羅待她還算親切，其他人卻讓她害怕。哈戈身形巨大，沉默寡言，時常兇神惡煞地瞪著她，仿佛忘記了她的身份?？滤鲃t眼神冷酷，雙手靈活，性喜傷人。每回他碰過多莉亞，總會在她的白嫩肌膚上留下淤傷，有時還會讓伊麗在夜里偷偷啜泣。連他的馬兒好像也怕他。
Yet they were bound to Drogo for life and death, so Daenerys had no choice but to accept them. And sometimes she found herself wishing her father had been protected by such men. In the songs, the white knights of the Kingsguard were ever noble, valiant, and true, and yet King Aerys had been murdered by one of them, the handsome boy they now called the Kingslayer, and a second, Ser Barristan the Bold, had gone over to the Usurper. She wondered if all men were as false in the Seven Kingdoms. When her son sat the Iron Throne, she would see that he had bloodriders of his own to protect him against treachery in his Kingsguard.
但他們和卓戈生死與共，所以丹妮莉絲除了接納他們，別無選擇。有時候，她反倒希望自己父親當年身邊也有這種人保護。歌謠里的白衣白甲的御林鐵衛(wèi)，總是高貴、英勇而真誠，但伊里斯王卻死在其中一人手里。如今人們稱那個英俊的男孩為“弒君者”。至于“無畏的”巴利斯坦爵士，則投效篡奪者麾下。她不禁暗忖，七國的人是否都如此虛偽。待她的兒子坐上鐵王座，她一定要讓他也有自己的血盟衛(wèi)，保護他免遭御林鐵衛(wèi)的詭計迫害。
“Khaleesi,” Cohollo said to her, in Dothraki. “Drogo, who is blood of my blood, commands me to tell you that he must ascend the Mother of Mountains this night, to sacrifice to the gods for his safe return.”
“卡麗熙，”科霍羅用多斯拉克語說，“吾血之血卓戈命令我通知您，今晚他必須登上圣母山，為他的平安歸來向諸神獻祭。”
Only men were allowed to set foot on the Mother, Dany knew. The khal’s bloodriders would go with him, and return at dawn. “Tell my sun-and-stars that I dream of him, and wait anxious for his return,” she replied, thankful. Dany tired more easily as the child grew within her; in truth, a night of rest would be most welcome. Her pregnancy only seemed to have inflamed Drogo’s desire for her, and of late his embraces left her exhausted.
丹妮知道惟有男人才能踏上圣母山，卡奧的血盟衛(wèi)會和他同去，并在翌日清晨歸返?！罢埜嬖V我的日和星，說我作夢都念著他，并且焦急地盼他回來。”她滿懷感激地答道。事實上，隨著胎兒日漸長大，丹妮越來越容易疲累，能休息一晚再好不過。她懷孕一事似乎益發(fā)點燃卓戈的欲火，近來他的臨幸總讓她筋疲力盡。
Doreah led her to the hollow hill that had been prepared for her and her khal. It was cool and dim within, like a tent made of earth. “Jhiqui, a bath, please,” she commanded, to wash the dust of travel from her skin and soak her weary bones. It was pleasant to know that they would linger here for a while, that she would not need to climb back on her silver on the morrow.
多莉亞領(lǐng)她走到為她和卡奧所準備的空心土丘。內(nèi)里陰涼昏暗，如同一座泥土搭成的帳篷?！凹х?，請幫我準備沐浴?！彼胂慈ヂ猛撅L塵，好好浸一浸酸疼的骨頭。她很高興他們將在此停留一段時日，這樣她就無需每天一大早便爬上小銀馬了。
The water was scalding hot, as she liked it. “I will give my brother his gifts tonight,” she decided as Jhiqui was washing her hair. “He should look a king in the sacred city. Doreah, run and find him and invite him to sup with me.” Viserys was nicer to the Lysene girl than to her Dothraki handmaids, perhaps because Magister Illyrio had let him bed her back in Pentos. “Irri, go to the bazaar and buy fruit and meat. Anything but horseflesh.”
熱水極燙，正合她意?！敖裢砦乙o哥哥張羅禮物?！奔х鳛樗搭^時，她下了決心。“在圣城里，他要有個國王的樣子。多莉亞，快趕去找他，邀他與我共進晚餐?！毕鄬λ渌亩嗨估伺?，韋賽里斯對這位里斯女孩比較好，這或許是因為以前在潘托斯時，伊利里歐總督曾讓他睡過她?！耙聋?，去市集買些水果和肉食，什么都好，就是不要馬肉?！?/p>
“Horse is best,” Irri said. “Horse makes a man strong.”
“馬肉是最好的肉，”伊麗道，“吃馬肉讓人強壯?！?/p>
“Viserys hates horsemeat.”
“韋賽里斯最恨馬肉?！?/p>
“As you say, Khaleesi.”
“遵命，卡麗熙?！?/p>
She brought back a haunch of goat and a basket of fruits and vegetables. Jhiqui roasted the meat with sweetgrass and firepods, basting it with honey as it cooked, and there were melons and pomegranates and plums and some queer eastern fruit Dany did not know. While her handmaids prepared the meal, Dany laid out the clothing she’d had made to her brother’s measure: a tunic and leggings of crisp white linen, leather sandals that laced up to the knee, a bronze medallion belt, a leather vest painted with fire-breathing dragons. The Dothraki would respect him more if he looked less a beggar, she hoped, and perhaps he would forgive her for shaming him that day in the grass. He was still her king, after all, and her brother. They were both blood of the dragon.
她帶了羊的腰骨肉和一籃蔬果回來。隨后姬琪用甜菜和火豆烤肉，邊烤邊淋上蜂蜜。蔬果則有甜瓜、石榴和李子，還有些丹妮沒見過的古怪東方瓜果。趁女仆準備晚餐，丹妮擺出了她照哥哥身材親手裁制的衣服，包括白色亞麻布織成的外衣和護腿，綁到膝蓋的涼鞋，一條青銅圓飾腰帶，還有一件畫了噴火龍的皮背心。如果他看起來不那么像乞丐，她希望多斯拉克人會比較尊重他，或許他也會原諒她那天在草海上羞辱他的事。再怎么說，他還是她的國王，也是她哥哥，他們同是真龍血脈。
She was arranging the last of his gifts, a sandsilk cloak, green as grass, with a pale grey border that would bring out the silver in his hair, when Viserys arrived, dragging Doreah by the arm. Her eye was red where he’d hit her. “How dare you send this whore to give me commands,” he said. He shoved the handmaid roughly to the carpet.
她正要擺上最后一件禮物——一件草綠色的紗絲披風，滾了淺灰邊，恰好可以襯出他頭發(fā)的銀色——韋賽里斯氣呼呼地進來了，他拽著多莉亞的手，只見她一只眼睛挨了揍，這會兒紅腫起來?！澳愫么蟮哪懽樱垢医羞@婊子來對我發(fā)號施令！”他邊說邊粗魯?shù)匕雅屯频乖诘靥荷稀?/p>
The anger took Dany utterly by surprise. “I only wanted?.?.?.?Doreah, what did you say?”
這突如其來的怒氣大出丹妮意料?！拔抑徊贿^想……多莉亞，你是怎么說的？”
“Khaleesi, pardons, forgive me. I went to him, as you bid, and told him you commanded him to join you for supper.”
“卡麗熙，對不起，請您原諒我。我照您吩咐去找他，告訴他說您命令他來一起吃飯?！?/p>
“No one commands the dragon,” Viserys snarled. “I am your king! I should have sent you back her head!”
“誰都不許對真龍發(fā)號施令，”韋賽里斯咆哮：“我是你的國王！我應該把她的頭還給你才對！”
The Lysene girl quailed, but Dany calmed her with a touch. “Don’t be afraid, he won’t hurt you. Sweet brother, please, forgive her, the girl misspoke herself, I told her to ask you to sup with me, if it pleases Your Grace.” She took him by the hand and drew him across the room. “Look. These are for you.”
里斯女孩畏縮起來，丹妮用輕拍安撫她?！皠e怕，他不會傷害你。好哥哥，請您原諒她吧，她不過是說錯話，我告訴她請您來和我共進晚餐，如果陛下您愿意的話?！彼隣科鹚氖郑椒块g的另一邊?！澳矗@些是我要送給你的?！?/p>
Viserys frowned suspiciously. “What is all this?”
韋賽里斯?jié)M腹狐疑地皺眉道：“這些是什么？”
“New raiment. I had it made for you.” Dany smiled shyly.
“新衣服。我特地為您做的。”丹妮害羞地微笑。
He looked at her and sneered. “Dothraki rags. Do you presume to dress me now?”
他斜眼看看她，輕蔑地說：“還不就是些多斯拉克破布。怎么，現(xiàn)在輪到你為我挑衣服啦？”
“Please?.?.?.?you’ll be cooler and more comfortable, and I thought?.?.?.?maybe if you dressed like them, the Dothraki?.?.?.?” Dany did not know how to say it without waking his dragon.
“請別這樣……穿這些衣服會涼快點，也比較舒服，而且我想……我想如果您穿得跟他們，跟多斯拉克人一樣……”丹妮不知要怎么說才不會喚醒睡龍之怒。
“Next you’ll want to braid my hair.”
“我看接下來你就會叫我跟著綁辮子了。”
“I’d never?.?.?.?” Why was he always so cruel? She had only wanted to help. “You have no right to a braid, you have won no victories yet.”
“我不會……”為什么他永遠如此殘酷？她只是想幫忙罷了?！捌鋵嵞€沒打過勝仗，也沒有權(quán)利綁辮子?！?/p>
It was the wrong thing to say. Fury shone from his lilac eyes, yet he dared not strike her, not with her handmaids watching and the warriors of her khas outside. Viserys picked up the cloak and sniffed at it. “This stinks of manure. Perhaps I shall use it as a horse blanket.”
這是她最不該說的話。他淡紫色的眼睛里燃起怒火，卻不敢打她，因為她的侍女站在旁邊，而她卡斯的戰(zhàn)士就在外面。韋賽里斯撿起披風嗅了嗅?！耙还神R糞味，我看給馬用還差不多?！?/p>
“I had Doreah sew it specially for you,” she told him, wounded. “These are garments fit for a khal.”
“這是我讓多莉亞特地為您縫的，”她很覺受傷地告訴他，“就算卡奧穿起來也很相稱?！?/p>
“I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, not some grass-stained savage with bells in his hair,” Viserys spat back at her. He grabbed her arm. “You forget yourself, slut. Do you think that big belly will protect you if you wake the dragon?”
“我是七國之君，不是什么渾身草臭、頭發(fā)響叮當?shù)囊靶U人。”韋賽里斯斥道。他一把抓住她的手?！澳阍絹碓讲蛔R好歹了，小賤貨。你以為自己現(xiàn)在肚子大了，喚醒睡龍之怒就沒關(guān)系了嗎？”
His fingers dug into her arm painfully and for an instant Dany felt like a child again, quailing in the face of his rage. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed the first thing she touched, the belt she’d hoped to give him, a heavy chain of ornate bronze medallions. She swung it with all her strength.
他的手指掐進她的臂膀，痛得她覺得自己仿佛又變成了小孩，見他生氣就害怕得慌忙退縮。她伸出另一只手，摸索碰到的第一個東西，那恰好是她原本要給他的腰帶，一條雕飾華麗的青銅牌鏈。她用盡渾身力氣揮了出去。
It caught him full in the face. Viserys let go of her. Blood ran down his cheek where the edge of one of the medallions had sliced it open. “You are the one who forgets himself,” Dany said to him. “Didn’t you learn anything that day in the grass? Leave me now, before I summon my khas to drag you out. And pray that Khal Drogo does not hear of this, or he will cut open your belly and feed you your own entrails.”
腰帶正中他面門。韋賽里斯應聲松手，一塊銅牌銳利的邊緣割破了他的臉頰，鮮血頓時流淌下來?！安蛔R好歹的人是你?！钡つ輰λf，“那天在草原上，你還沒得到教訓嗎？請你離開，免得我叫卡斯部眾拖你走。你最好祈禱卓戈卡奧不要知道這件事，不然他會把你開膛破肚，挖出內(nèi)臟叫你自己吃下去?！?/p>
Viserys scrambled back to his feet. “When I come into my kingdom, you will rue this day, slut.” He walked off, holding his torn face, leaving her gifts behind him.
韋賽里斯爬起來?！靶≠v貨，等我回國以后，你一定會后悔的?！闭f完他托著受傷的臉走出去，禮物一件也沒拿。
Drops of his blood had spattered the beautiful sandsilk cloak. Dany clutched the soft cloth to her cheek and sat cross-legged on her sleeping mats.
他滴下的血灑在那件美麗的紗絲披風上。丹妮握住柔軟的布料，按在自己臉頰，然后盤腿坐進她的睡鋪。
“Your supper is ready, Khaleesi,” Jhiqui announced.
“卡麗熙，您的晚餐準備好了?！奔х餍?。
“I’m not hungry,” Dany said sadly. She was suddenly very tired. “Share the food among yourselves, and send some to Ser Jorah, if you would.” After a moment she added, “Please, bring me one of the dragon’s eggs.”
“我不餓?！钡つ荼瘋卣f。突然間她只覺得好累?！澳銈兎种园?。麻煩送一點去給喬拉爵士?！边^了半晌，她又加上一句，“請拿一顆龍蛋給我?！?/p>
Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands. Dany curled up on her side, pulling the sandsilk cloak across her and cradling the egg in the hollow between her swollen belly and small, tender breasts. She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside.
伊麗拿來那顆深綠色蛋殼的龍蛋。她放在小手心里反復把玩，鱗甲閃著青銅的光澤。丹妮翻身蜷曲，拉過紗絲披風做蓋，把龍蛋放進她隆起的腹部和小而柔軟的胸乳間的凹陷。她喜歡把玩這些龍蛋，它們實在漂亮，有時候光是靠近就會讓她覺得自己變得強壯而勇敢，仿佛她從蛋里的石化龍那兒汲取了能量。
She was lying there, holding the egg, when she felt the child move within her?.?.?.?as if he were reaching out, brother to brother, blood to blood. “You are the dragon,” Dany whispered to him, “the true dragon. I know it. I know it.” And she smiled, and went to sleep dreaming of home.
就在她躺著玩弄龍蛋的時候，她感覺到體內(nèi)嬰兒的胎動……好像他正在向外伸手擁抱，同是手足兄弟，同是龍族血脈?！澳悴攀钦纨垈魅?，”丹妮向他悄聲說，“真正的龍。我知道的。”然后她微笑著入眠，夢見了家鄉(xiāng)。
※※※※※※
斯拉克語中對卡奧繼承人的尊稱。
